A broader canvas

At a time when summits are all about doom and gloom, this was one to lift the spirits and suggest that at least art is, to some extent, recessionproof. Given the economic slowdown, organisers of last week's Indian Art Summit in Delhi choose to concentrate on creating a space for dialogue, fearing that sales would not be enough to pull in the crowds.

Subodh Guptas bronze installationThree Monkeys was a major attraction.

They were in for a pleasant surprise. While the art market across the world has suffered due to the recession, the Indian Art Summit proved market analysers and critics wrong by managing to sell approximately 50 per cent of all works on display.

The second edition of the Indian Art Summit came back bigger and better-dismissing notions about last year's success being a one-off. With the participation of 54 galleries-17 are from countries like the Philippines, UAE, Korea, the Netherlands, Thailand, Germany, UK, USA, Japan, China and even Latvia, the summit has claimed a spot for itself in the global art market, and become India's single-largest platform for modern and contemporary arts.

Leading artist and advisory panel member Anjolie Ela Menon checks out a stall

Not surprisingly, financial issues dominated most discussions at the Indian Art Summit, though its greatest achievement has been to broaden its artistic horizons. A sculpture park, a video lounge, collateral events within the campus as well as spread across the city helped create the right atmosphere for an event of national significance, while cocktail parties and receptions created endless opportunities for networking between gallery owners, curators, artists and collectors.

The sculpture park outside the venue was an attempt at creating more visibility for sculptures and installations outside the boundaries of the gallery space. Ved Gupta's Dog Democracy presented by Threshold Art Gallery, Vibha Galhotra's Construction-Destruction-Resconstruction presented by Gallery Espace and Navjot Altaf's Touch-the 7-ft high Red Duco Paint on Fibre Glass sculpture- all stood out. Also evident was the mounting interest in video art with a non-stop video lounge curated by Anupam Poddar's Devi Art Gallery.

The New York-based Thomas Erben Gallery managed to sell a video work of German filmmaker Matthias Muller as well as two pieces of Chitra Ganesh priced at $9,000 each.

A visitor looks at an untitled Anish Kapoor sculpture.

Another plus for the Art Summit this year was the inclusion of big names among the participants. "I think the participation of respected galleries like the Lisson Gallery from the UK, which brought celebrated installation artist Anish Kapoor's work to India for the first time, will add to the reputation of the Indian Art Summit," said artist and curator Bose Krishnamachari.

London-based Kapoor's sculptures were sold to a prominent Indian family of collectors. One of the sculptures was reportedly sold for a whopping 1.5 crore. Despite some hiccups like infrastructural limitations, the summit attracted over 40,000 visitors in four days and featured art works ranging from the oils by Anjolie Ela Menon and S.H. Raza to installations and sculptures by Kapoor and video art and drawing by British artist Julian Opie.

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Big names like Chittrovanu Mazumdar, Atul and Anju Dodiya besides Jitish and Reena Kallat, Subodh Gupta, Andy Warhol and masters like Jamini Roy, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. The summit sold some 250 works of art valued at approximately Rs 26 crore, a huge jump from last year.

This year, the summit proved that the art scene in India has grown both in stature and reputation. Comparisons are inevitable and while the summit must be given credit for raising the bar from the standards set last year, it still fails to measure up to international standards in terms of infrastructure and planning.

"I would say its halfway there and it's only in its second year," views Dr Premilla Baid of Sumukha Gallery from Bangalore. At the end of the day, the sight of thousands of students, housewives and even children thronging the venue and looking at works they've never seen before is probably every artist's dream come true: Art made accessible to the public.

Picasso lithographs and etchings brought to India by Marigold Gallery.

Said a visibly excited Vibha Rao gaping at Gupta's Three Monkeys installation in bronze: "I have seen his works in magazines, but this is the first time I'm within touching distance of both the artist and the work."

Other artists like Mazumdar, Menon, Vivan Sundaram, Jatin Das and several more were freely accessible. As Yvonna Veiherte from the Ivonna Art Gallery of Latvia remarked: "I have never seen so many people at any art fair. We have not made a single sale, but we ran out of brochures and visiting cards on day one. This interest is enough to bring us back."

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And with over 20 galleries confirming their entry for next year before the conclusion of this summit, one can safely predict that the Indian Art Summit can call itself a truly global art event.

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